How to set up a new Isilon cluster with

a 10 GbE external network

EMC Isilon – Set up a new cluster with a 10 GbE external network 1

Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 3
Configure the cluster ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Verify cluster network settings ........................................................................................................................ 5
Switch between 1 GbE and 10 GbE networks ................................................................................................... 6

EMC Isilon – Set up a new cluster with a 10 GbE external network 2

Introduction
Complete these steps to configure a new cluster with a 10 GbE external network. Nodes that support a 10 GbE
external network include the S200, X200, X400, and NL400 nodes.

Before you can configure a node to work with a 10 GbE external network, you must complete the steps to
install the new node. See the node installation guide for the type of node that you are installing. Follow the
steps to add the node to the rack, install the drives and front panel, connect the internal and external
networks, and connect the power supply.

Configure the cluster

After the node has been installed and powered on, follow these steps to configure the cluster:

1. At the configuration wizard menu, type 1 to create a new cluster.

2. Accept the software license and maintenance agreement.
3. Follow the prompts to configure the cluster.

For new clusters, the following table lists the information necessary to configure the cluster.
Information specific to configuring the 10 GbE external network is in the 10 GbE selection column.

Setting Description 10 GbE selection

Root password The password for the root user.

Admin password The password for the admin user

SupportIQ SupportIQ allows Isilon Technical

• Company name
• Contact name
• Contact phone
• Contact email
Support to remotely monitor a
cluster, run scripts, and download
information to assist in
troubleshooting cluster issues.

Cluster name The name used to identify the

cluster.

If you plan to join the cluster to a

Microsoft Active Directory domain,
you must type a name that
contains 12 or fewer characters
because names longer than 12
characters are not supported in an
Active Directory domain.

Character encoding The character encoding for the

cluster. The default character
encoding is UTF-8.

EMC Isilon – Set up a new cluster with a 10 GbE external network 3

Setting Description 10 GbE selection

int-a network settings The network settings used by the

int-a network. The int-a network is
• Netmask used for communication between
• IP range nodes.

The int-a network must be

configured with IPv4.

The int-a network must be on a

separate subnet from an int-
b/failover network.

int-b / failover network settings The network settings used by the

optional int-b/failover network.
• Netmask The int-b network is used for
• IP range communication between nodes
• Failover IP range and provides redundancy with the
int-a network.

The int-b network must be

configured with IPv4.
The int-a and int-b networks must
be on separate subnets.

The failover IP range is a virtual IP

range that is resolved
to either one of the active ports
during failover

External network choices The type of external network used At the configuration prompt, type 2
by the cluster. You can configure to configure a 10 GbE external
• ext-1 the ext-1 or 10gige-1 network, but network.
• 10gige-1 not both at the same time.

ext-1 / 10 GbE network settings The network settings used by the
ext-1 or 10 GbE network. The ext-1
• Netmask or 10 GbE network is used by
• MTU clients to access the cluster.
• IP range The default ext-1 or 10 GbE
network must initially be
configured with IPv4.
Note: Only one external subnet can
be configured using the
configuration wizard. The 10 GbE
configuration requires an active
connection to the 10 GbE port of
the node.

Default gateway The IP address of the optional

gateway server through which the
cluster communicates with clients
outside the
subnet.

EMC Isilon – Set up a new cluster with a 10 GbE external network 4

 Setting Description 10 GbE selection

SmartConnect settings SmartConnect balances client

• SmartConnect zone name
• SmartConnect service IP
connections across nodes
in a cluster.
For information about configuring
SmartConnect, see the
OneFS Administration Guide.

DNS settings The DNS settings for the cluster.

• DNS servers
• DNS search domains

Date and time settings The day and time settings for the
cluster.
• Time zone
• Day and time

Cluster join mode The method that the cluster uses to

add new nodes.
• Manual
• Secure join Manual join (default): Allows either
a configured node in the existing
cluster, or a new node, to issue a
request to join the cluster.

Secure join: A configured node in

the existing cluster must invite a
new unconfigured node to join the
cluster.

After the cluster is configured, you can add additional nodes to the cluster. The Isilon configuration wizard
starts automatically when a new node is powered on. At the configuration prompt, type 2 to join the node to
the cluster.

Verify cluster network settings

Complete the following steps to verify the cluster settings.

Verify network connection is active

From a client computer, open a command prompt. Run the following command, where <cluster name> is the
name of the cluster that you want to verify:

ping <cluster name>

If the DNS settings are correct and the connection is working, you will receive four replies from the cluster.

EMC Isilon – Set up a new cluster with a 10 GbE external network 5

Connect to the OneFS web administration interface

Open a web browser, and go to the following URL, where <cluster IP> is the IP address of a node in the
cluster:

https://<cluster IP>:8080

The the web administration interface should appear. At the logon screen, enter the root user name and
password to log on to the cluster.

Connect to the cluster from a client computer

To test the connectivity of Windows clients:

1. On a Windows client, map a drive to the default /ifs share on the cluster.
2. Copy a file from the client to the mapped drive. The copy should complete successfully.

To test the connectivity of Unix clients:

1. On a UNIX client, run the mount command to create an NFS mount on the cluster.
2. Copy a file from the client to the NFS mount point. The copy should complete successfully.

Switch between 1 GbE and 10 GbE networks

After the cluster is installed and configured, you can switch between using a 1 GbE or 10 GbE external network
for a node or nodes. This change can be made using the OneFS web administration interface or command-line
interface.

Note: If you change the network interface for a node, active connections to that node will be disconnected.

From the OneFS web administration interface:

1. OneFS 7.0 and later: Click Cluster Management > Network Configuration.
OneFS 6.5: Click: Cluster > Networking.
2. On the Networking page, in the Subnets section, click the link for the subnet that you want to update.
3. In the IP Address Pools section, in the Pool members row, click the Edit link.
4. In the Configure Pool Interface Members dialog box, in the Interfaces in current pool list, select the
network interface that you want to replace, then click the left arrow to remove the interface.
5. In the Available interfaces list, select the interface that you want to use, then click the right arrow to
add the interface to the current pool.
6. Click the Submit button.

EMC Isilon – Set up a new cluster with a 10 GbE external network 6

From the OneFS command-line interface:

1. Open an SSH connection on any node in the cluster and log on using the "root" account.
2. Run the following command to display a list of network interfaces within a subnet's IP address pool:

isi networks list iface

Output similar to the following appears:

Interface Status Membership Addresses

--------------- ----------- ------------------------- -------------------------
2:10gige-1 up
2:10gige-2 no carrier
2:ext-1 no carrier
2:ext-2 up subnet0:pool0 10.7.166.122

In the example, the ext-2 interface on node 2 is used by subnet0:pool0.

3. Run the following command to remove an interface member from a pool:

isi networks modify pool <subnet>:<pool> --remove-iface=<node>:<interface>

For example:

isi networks modify pool subnet0:pool10 --remove-iface=2:ext-2

4. Run the following command to add a member interface to a pool:

isi networks modify pool <subnet>:<pool> --add-iface=<node>:<interface>

For example, to add the 10 GbE interface listed in step 2:

isi networks modify pool subnet0:pool10 --add-iface=2:10gige-1

5. To verify the change, run the following command to display a list of network interfaces. The interface
entered in step 4 should have updated membership and IP address information.

isi networks list iface

Output similar to the following appears:

Interface Status Membership Addresses

--------------- ----------- ------------------------- -------------------------
2:10gige-1 up subnet0:pool0 10.7.166.122
2:10gige-2 no carrier
2:ext-1 no carrier
2:ext-2 up

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